Isaac's Mom Has Got It Going On
by Dracobolt
Summary: Oneshot - A freak accident has Garet falling for Isaac's mom. That's weird enough, but what's Isaac to do when his mom likes Garet back?


**Disclaimer:** Golden Sun belongs to Nintendo and Camelot, not Dracobolt.

This is an older fic that's been kickin' around my hard drive for, like, a year now, so I figured I'd just go ahead and finally post it. Thanks go out to everyone who's looked it over for me at various points. Also, special thanks to my cousin Johnny who first called me up one afternoon a few years ago and told me out of the blue that I should write a fic. He then proceeded to dictate the outline of the story before leaving me to write it. Well, here it is. I dub this pairing... Laundryshipping!

* * *

It was a nice spring day three years after the Mt. Aleph boulder had fallen. Garet, Isaac, and Jenna were in the fields outside of Vale for combat training with Harold, the town blacksmith. Harold wasn't the best warrior, but he was competent enough. Currently, the three teenagers were working on their swordplay. Isaac and Garet were practicing together, as were Harold and Jenna.

"All right," Harold said, after an hour. "You guys are really improving. I think it's time that you fought a real enemy." He pulled a canteen from his pack and passed it around. "Take a moment to catch your breath, and I'll find a monster for you to fight." He strode off, looking for an appropriate foe.

The three friends sat down in the grass and passed around the canteen in silence. Garet kept adjusting his swordbelt, excited and nervous about the upcoming trial. He glanced at his friends. Jenna absently twirled her hair around a finger, and Isaac was shredding a piece of grass. Garet smiled to himself. At least he wasn't the only one who was nervous.

Just then, Harold appeared again. "This way, you three," he said with a grin. "There's a couple of Vermin just over that hill. You should be able to take them down easily. But we'll have to go quietly if we don't want to startle them."

The four Adepts crept along the field until they saw the Vermin. "Now," whispered Harold, "remember what I taught you. Go on!"

"RARGH!" Garet yelled, tearing down the hill with his sword drawn and a fireball formed in one hand. He tossed the fire at one Vermin, incinerating it. He stabbed his sword into another, causing it to emit a squeak of pain before it dissolved into dust, as monsters were wont to do. All this happened before Isaac and Jenna could get halfway down the hill. Despite Garet's head start, they were still able to slay a few Vermin themselves. Finally, all the monsters were dead.

"Excellent job, you three," Harold said, going over to them. "You especially, Garet- watch out!"

"What?" Garet asked. "Ouch!" A Vermin, previously unseen, had darted out and bit him in the leg. Garet growled with rage and torched the critter. "Stupid monsters," he muttered.

"Are you okay, Garet?" Jenna asked worriedly.

"Here, let me heal you," Isaac said. He placed his hand on Garet's wound and used Cure. "How's that?"

"Better," Garet said, moving his leg experimentally. "Yeah, I'm-" He paused, wobbling in space. He reached out and grabbed at Isaac for support. "Woah."

"Garet, are you all right?" Harold asked. "Let's get you back to Vale." He and Isaac helped Garet back to Vale, while Jenna ran ahead to get the Great Healer.

;.;.;.;.;

"How is he, Great Healer?" Jenna asked after the man had emerged from the Sanctum.

"Young Garet will be fine. There was some sort of the poison in the Vermin's bite, but I managed to purge most of it from his body. He may still be a little unwell, but it's nothing some rest won't cure."

"That's great," Isaac said, relieved. "I'll help him home."

"Excellent," said the Great Healer. "I'll send him out."

"Hey hey, guys!" Garet called, staggering out of the Sanctum. Isaac and Jenna looked critically at the Great Healer, who rushed back inside.

"C'mon, Garet," Isaac said with a shrug. "Let's get you home." He and Jenna led their delirious friend back to his house. All the while, Garet struggled to get away from them and pointed to non-existant things, such as fairies and space robots.

"Look, Isaac, it's an angel," Garet giggled as they passed Isaac's house.

Isaac sighed. "No, Garet, that's just my mom."

"Your mom?" Garet said, stopping. He looked at Dora, who was outside hanging up laundry. Garet wrenched his arms out of Isaac's grasped and strode over to Dora, pausing just long enough to snag a flower from the ground.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," Garet said politely. "I brought you a flower."

"Why, thank you, Garet," Dora said with a smile, accepting the flower. "How sweet of you."

"So, uh, you busy tonight?" Garet asked. "'Cause I'm thinking dinner and dancing down at the tavern. Whaddaya say?"

Dora looked at him strangely. "I don't think so, Garet."

Isaac had had enough. He rushed over and grabbed Garet under the arms and hauled him away.

"How about Friday?" Garet yelled as Isaac dragged him home. "You busy Friday?"

;.;.;.;.;

That night, Isaac had little rest. He was awoken from a sound sleep by someone trying to climb in his window.

"Who's there?" Isaac called, sitting up and reaching for his sword.

"Oh, sorry, Isaac, wrong room," he heard Garet say, followed by some thuds.

"Garet!" Isaac called, jumping out of bed and dashing to the window. "Garet! What did you mean "wrong room"? Garet!" There was no reply, and Isaac eventually went back to bed. Sleep eluded him, however, as he puzzled over his friend's strange behavior.

The next morning, Isaac went outside after an early breakfast to see Garet hanging laundry.

"Morning, Isaac," Garet said around a mouthful of clothespins.

"Uh, good morning," Isaac replied. "Er, any reason you're hanging our laundry?"

"Well," Garet said, hanging up a bra, "I remembered hearing Dora say how she didn't like hanging the laundry out, so I thought I'd help out."

"Okay..." Isaac said, trying not to think about how his best friend was waving his mother's lingerie around. He decided to change the subject. "So, uh, what were you doing trying to climb in my window last night?"

"Oh, I wasn't trying for your room," said Garet. "I was looking for Dora's room."

"Do I even want to know why?" Isaac said, feeling a bit squeamish.

Garet studied his face. "No, probably not."

"I have to go," Isaac said and took off running.

Garet watched his friend go, then shrugged and returned to the laundry. "Black lace, huh."

;.;.;.;.;

When Isaac explained the events of the morning and previous night to Jenna, she was skeptical.

"Garet tried to sneak into your house? " Jenna said, raising an eyebrow. "Isaac, are you sure that's what he was doing?"

"He said so himself!" Isaac said defensively.

"Well, if that's true, something is not right here," Jenna said. "If it will make you feel better, we could ask the Great Healer. This could be, like, an effect of that poison from the Vermin."

"Good idea," Isaac said. "Let's go see him now."

The two friends left Jenna's grandparents' house, where Jenna had been living since her parents were killed, and headed for the Sanctum. Unfortunately, they had to pass Isaac's house on the way there.

"Is there anyone around?" Isaac asked Jenna, hiding his eyes.

"No, I don't see anyone," she said. "Wait, there's someone moving inside, I think. Come on, let's investigate!"

"Let's not," Isaac groaned, but allowed Jenna to lead him to the window. He hunkered down with his head in his hands, while Jenna peered in the window.

"Oh, Luna..." Jenna whispered in a horrified tone.

Isaac let out a small shriek. "What are they doing?" he moaned.

Jenna snickered. "Ha, just kidding. Garet's just having tea with your mom." She pulled Isaac to his feet. "Come on, let's go to the Sanctum."

;.;.;.;.;

"Great Healer!" Jenna called as she burst into the Sanctum with Isaac in tow. "You've got some 'splainin' to do!"

"Ah, it's young Jenna," said the Great Healer, coming over to greet them. "What brings you here today?"

"What's wrong with Garet?" Jenna asked.

"Er, what do you mean?" asked the Great Healer.

"Garet's acting like a crazy person," she said. "We were thinking that it was an effect of the poison."

"Well, you were wrong," said the Great Healer, taking her arm and leading her to the door.

"How do you know?" Jenna asked. "You didn't even examine him."

"Who's the healer here?" asked the Great Healer. "Now, run along." He pushed her out the door and slammed it.

"Well, how do you like that?" said Jenna indignantly.

"Let's just go back to my house," Isaac said. "Garet's alone with my mother! There's no telling what might happen!"

"Indulge me," Jenna said dryly. "Please, what do really think could happen?"

"Well," said Isaac, his imagination going like sixty, "he could... could... ravish her!"

"Ew!" Jenna cried. "Bad mental picture! Just stop. We'll go check on your mom."

;.;.;.;.;

Garet sat in Isaac's living room, sipping tea with Dora. It was good stuff, specially imported from Kalay to the south. It perfectly complimented Dora's homemade biscuits.

"You know, you're a really good cook, Dora," Garet said.

"Thank you, Garet," Dora replied. "I do try."

"Oh, it shows. I can't get enough of your cooking." Garet paused, then spoke again. "You're very pretty, you know."

"Well, thank you..." Dora wasn't sure how to respond to this unusual comment.

"Your eyes are beautiful," Garet said, leaning close. "They're like gems, and I can see your beautiful soul..."

Dora's heart fluttered at Garet's eloquent words. Not since her husband had died had she felt so loved and accepted by a man. She leaned closer to Garet, gazing at his chocolate orbs. "Garet..."

"Dora..."

Their lips met, and they were lost in bliss.

;.;.;.;.;

Outside Isaac's house, Jenna and Isaac were staring in the living room window in horror.

"That is SICK and WRONG and DISGUSTING!" Jenna moaned.

Isaac screamed like a girl, crying," Bad mental picture! BAD MENTAL PICTURE!" while clawing at his eyes.

"Isaac, get a hold of yourself," Jenna said with a shudder. "We need to stop this from going any further."

Isaac sat on the ground, trying to get his emotions under control. "Garet must die..." he muttered angrily.

"Isaac, no! This isn't Garet's fault. He's not right in the head," Jenna said quickly. "Besides, from what we saw, your mother reciprocated his affections." She made a face. "Now there's something I never thought I'd say."

"You're right," Isaac sighed. "Let's go stop this before I develop some sort of psychological problem."

"Kraden might know what we can do," Jenna said. "Let's go!" The two teens dashed off to seek the sage's advice.

;.;.;.;.;

"Hm..." Kraden said upon hearing their tale. "Garet is acting delusional, and you want me to cure him?" He shook his head. "I'm a scholar, not a healer."

"Come on, Kraden!" Isaac cried. "Surely there's something you can do."

"Well, I have been studying herbal cures lately," Kraden said. "Perhaps I can help. Let me check my books." He hobbled over to his work table and opened up a large volume.

Jenna and Isaac exchanged relieved grins. Finally, they were getting somewhere!

"Yes, this should work," Kraden said. He motioned for them to join him. Isaac and Jenna came over, and Kraden pointed out a section on one page. "It's a potion for curing hallucinations, but the ingredients are hard to come by." Jenna and Isaac were dismayed. Kraden smiled at them. "Very hard to come by for most people, that is. They don't call me Kraden the Sexy Sage for nothing, you know."

Isaac and Jenna stared at him. Kraden coughed. "Well, I'll just go whip up that potion for you now." He stepped into his workroom and shut the door.

"I think he needs a dose of that stuff, too," Jenna remarked.

;.;.;.;.;

After Kraden gave them the potion, Isaac and Jenna took off for Isaac's house. "I only hope it's not too late," Isaac panted as he and Jenna ran.

They arrived at Isaac's house and burst inside. Garet and Dora were locked in a passionate embrace, kissing each other. Isaac stood rooted to the spot, screaming. Jenna grabbed the potion from him, then tackled Garet off of the sofa. Dora shrieked and tried to pull Jenna off Garet, but Isaac snapped out of his daze and pulled his mother off Jenna. Jenna opened the potion bottle and dumped the contents in Garet's mouth, and he swallowed in reflex. Jenna sat beside Garet, watching him anxiously for changes. She was quite startled when Dora grabbed her collar and hauled her to her feet.

"What are you doing, young lady?"

"Hey, let go of me, ma'am!" Jenna cried, wrenching out of Dora's grip. "I was trying to stop Garet from doing something he'd regret."

"Mom, calm down," Isaac added, taking her arm. "Garet's sick. He got poisoned from a Vermin bite, and Jenna gave him the cure. That's why he's been acting strangely."

"But- but-," Dora stuttered helplessly as Isaac guided her to a chair.

"It's okay, Mom," Isaac told her. He was puzzled and more than a little freaked out when she burst into tears.

"It was all a lie!" Dora sobbed, staring at Garet. It was then that the young Mars Adept chose to stir, slowly sitting up. He placed a hand to his head, winced, and looked around.

"Hey, uh, what happened?" Garet asked. "Where are we?"

"Garet!" Jenna cried, going over to her friend. "How are you feeling?"

"Confused," he said, standing. He glanced around. "Hey, what's the matter with Dora?" Hearing this, the woman sobbed harder.

"She's been jilted in love," Jenna explained. She turned to Isaac and said, "Take care of Dora, okay? I'll walk Garet home and fill him in."

After his friends left, Isaac sat uncomfortably with his mother, silently fetching her tissues. A few minutes later, the silence was shattered by a sustained shriek, undoubtedly issuing from Garet. Isaac, in the kitchen preparing tea for his mother, winced. Jenna had told Garet what had happened, then. He sighed. At least Garet was back to normal. He'd probably avoid Dora as much as possible, and Isaac couldn't blame him. In fact, Isaac didn't feel quite comfortable around his mother at the present, given the fact that he'd seen her macking on his friend.

;.;.;.;.;

For the next few days, things were awkward among Isaac, Dora, Garet, and Jenna. Isaac spent a lot of time on the roof doing maintenance work, away from his mother. Garet, for his part, avoided Isaac's house, preferring to take the long way to the plaza, crossing the river to keep away from Dora. Dora spent her days holed up in her bedroom, eating chocolates, reading romance novels and crying. Isaac was worried about her, but not enough so to do anything about it. Jenna said it was probably not a good idea for him to discuss the events of the past several days, lest he cause himself permanent psychological damage. She told him this one day when she, Isaac, and Garet were at Kraden's for lessons. Indeed, lessons with Kraden were, for Isaac and Jenna, almost as awkward as being around Dora. Jenna told Isaac and Garet that her mind had created a mental image for "Kraden the Sexy Sage" and that the image was burned into her mind's eye. Isaac and Garet sympathized with her, all the while wondering what sort of image she had come up with. This, unfortunately, caused undesirable speculations on their parts, and they, too, ended up with mental images stuck in their heads.

Isaac, Garet, Jenna, and Dora did not all come together again until a week after the events which had caused the tension between them all. Kraden was going to take the kids to Mt. Aleph as part of their studies. Jenna was ready to go on time, but she ended up having to tear Garet away from his Psynergy training, and then the two of them had to pull Isaac away from repairing his roof. Jenna and Garet had hoped not to run into Dora, but she was there. Luckily, the four of them were able to put up a facade of normalcy for the short time they were in each other's company.

The kids soon left with Kraden for Mt. Aleph. Inside, they uncovered many awesome secrets but also ran into trouble: the Elemental Stars were stolen and Jenna and Kraden were kidnapped. Garet summed up the situation succinctly, saying, "Bummer". He added to Isaac that the only upside to the situation was that he wouldn't have to be around Dora at all. Isaac had to agree with his friend. He hoped that his mother would be back to normal by the time he and Garet returned with Jenna and Kraden.

;.;.;.;.;

Although Vale was no more, Isaac was overjoyed to see that his mother was safe. "Mom!" he yelled, running towards his mother.

"Dora!" Kyle called, following his son.

"Oh, you're safe!" Dora called, running to meet them, the rest of the villagers close behind her.

Kyle ran to his wife, his arms open, ready to embrace her, and his eyes glistening with happy tears. He stopped short as his wife ran past him. Whirling around, he saw her throw her arms around Garet of all people, and his jaw dropped when he watched his wife plant a passionate kiss on the boy.

Kyle growled and charged. Isaac threw himself in front of his father. "Dad, wait!"

"The hell I will!" Kyle shouted. "He's kissing my wife!"

"No, Dad!" Isaac said, holding his father back. "Mom's, uh, kissing him." He shuddered.

Kyle looked over his son's shoulder. Indeed, it was Garet who broke the kiss, and he stepped away from Dora with a horrified look on his face. Then he met Kyle's gaze and became even paler. "Uh, sir, I can totally explain everything," Garet stuttered as the whole party and all of the townsfolk looked on in silence.


End file.
